Happy Birthday, Friend Raven!
by JayManney4Life
Summary: Fair warning: I wrote this back when I had very little knowledge of Teen Titans, and it shows. Inaccuracies go! Starfire notices Raven hasn't been out of her room, and goes to investigate, only to find out Raven's birthday is approaching. Wishing to make it a wonderful one, she goes out of her way to brighten the mystic Titan's day. Pure fluff and a bit of Raven/Starfire going on.


Raven's Birthday  
  
by Jay Manney  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, Biatch!! Now read, or I will send my army of rabid flesh-eating hamsters after you. oO  
  
This isn't one of my better stories in my opinion, but here it is just the same. Enjoy.  
  
Raven stared out through the window of her room, watching the pouring rain tap against the glass in near silence. She sighed, it appeared the day was not going to go well...  
  
But then again, why should it? Tomorrow was her birthday, after all. That's just begging for disaster.  
  
Floating around Titan Tower, Starfire seemed abit preoccupied by something. Beast Boy and Cyborg were once again trying to beat each other senseless with their video games, and Robin was in Gotham at the moment, visiting his mentor, the Batman.  
  
"Friends, do you know why Raven hasn't come out to join us today? She's normally meditating by the windows by now." The alien girl asked, putting her hands on the back of the couch.  
  
"You know how she gets..." Cyborg says, still staring at the screen and tapping the buttons on his joypad like mad, "She's probably just being her moody self again, nothing to worry about."  
  
Beastboy grinned, hitting a powerful combo on Cyborg's guy on the game, "Cy's right, just give her some space, she'll come out when she's ready."  
  
Starfire sighed, rubbing her arms abit, "I am hoping that you're right about this... but I cannot help feeling as though there is something the matter with her."  
  
Starfire floated past Raven's room, then stopped. Raising a hand, she moved to knock, but held back, unsure if she should disturb her friend or not. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then proceeded to knock lightly.  
  
"... it's open..."  
  
Starfire blushed lightly, then sighed, and the door opened in front of her. Raven's room was dark, no lights in it. Not that she needed them, as any of the other titans knew, she was at her best in the dark. Taking a chance, Starfire opened her mouth, "Friend Raven, I was just walking past, and I was wondering..."  
  
Raven turned slowly, her violet eyes staring deep into Starfire, making the girl flinch momentarily.  
  
With a sigh, Starfire slowly approached her, rubbing her arm some, "... I am just worried about you, Raven. You haven't come out of your room in days, you haven't answered any of us when we try to speak to you, and well... all I was wondering was, is something bothering you? Because if there is, I'd like to help you with whatever it might be, if you will let me."  
  
Raven stared back at her friend, examining her, not saying a word, then turned back around, "... it's nothing Star... at least, nothing you guys can help with..."  
  
Starfire blinked, walking up to Raven slowly, "... please Raven, if you tell me, I promise I will not share a word of it with the others... I just don't like seeing you look so..."  
  
"Pathetic? ... Broody? ... Cold?" Raven interrupted, closing her eyes, "... I get enough of it from Cyborg and Beast Boy... I figured you would expect it by now..."  
  
Starfire blushed some, looking down, "... I was going to say... sad... depressed even..." She floated beside her, crossing her legs in much the same way Raven usually did, "... please, Friend Raven... I'm your friend, I just want to help..."  
  
"How can you help?" Raven snapped, giving her friend a cold glare, "... no one cares about me... I've grown to accept that... they don't care about my feelings, my emotions... it's why I repress them so much... not just because it helps to control my powers, but because I know there isn't a soul alive who gives a damn about me... so why would they care about what today is?" she shut her mouth, turning away and pulling her hood over her head, feeling as though she had said too much.  
  
Starfire blinked, "... that is not true... Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin, we all care about you Friend Raven... you are our partner, our comrade in arms, our friend and our sister... I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but we most certainly care about you... I most definitely care about you Raven, you're my friend... being the only other girl here, you're just like a sister to me... I'd do nearly anything to see you happy..."  
  
Raven said nothing, looking out into the rain still. She sighed, looking down, "... tomorrow's my birthday, all right? ... there, I said it... happy now?"  
  
Starfire blinked, then began to smile, "Your birthday? ... Friend Raven, why did you not tell us? We could have had a party for you, and I could have fixed the Dessert of Great Happiness. I believe the earth people refer to it as ... birthday cake."  
  
Raven sighed, "... on my world, we never celebrated things much... I was taught to always keep to myself, even on occasions such as this... I never had many gifts or toys... my people considered such things to be useless, especially my father, preferring to concentrate on improving ourselves, and learning to control our gifts and arts..."  
  
Starfire was quiet for a moment, looking down at the floor, "... that's so sad... you never even received a card of well wishes?"  
  
Raven shook her head, looking out at the window again, staring at the rain. "Please Starfire... do not talk about this to the others. I don't wish to make them do anything just because of something like this."  
  
"But Friend Raven..." Starfire started, but Raven looked to her again. For a brief moment, Starfire saw a look of pleading in the gothic girl's eyes, but it disappeared again, as she turned away once more. Starfire closed her mouth, then nodded softly, ".. I promise Raven. The others will not know of this."  
  
Starfire wandered around inside of the large mall, glancing around from shop to shop, trying to see if she could find something to her liking.  
  
"I know Raven said not to tell the others of this, but she never said I could not find her something for her birthday myself." She smiled.  
  
Stopping in front of one of the shops, she looked up at the sign above the doors. "... Hot Topik... I have seen many people like Raven purchase many interesting things within here..."  
  
Entering the store, the alien girl began to look around, finding the music and decor to be quite... interesting, to say the least. Finding one of the attendants, she smiled to them, "Um, excuse me, Miss? I was wondering if maybe you might possibly be able to assist me with purchasing something from your store."  
  
The clerk, a girl with long black hair and grungy looking clothing, took her gum out of her mouth, looking back at Starfire, "... aight... what'cha looking for, kiddo?"  
  
Starfire smiled, "You see... I am searching for something to give to a special friend of mine... her birthday is tomorrow, and your establishment has many things that I believe would be to her liking, she is... as you humans say, on the gothic side."  
  
The girl raised a brow, then sighed, "... okay... I might be able to help... come with me..." she turned around, and started through the isles, and Starfire floated behind her. "Neat trick, by the way, that whole levitating thing."  
  
Starfire blinked, ".. thank you.."  
  
The girl looked back, stopping in front of the CD rack, "... you're that girl, Starfire right? .. one of the Teen Titans?"  
  
Starfire nodded, smiling brightly, "That is very much correct."  
  
The girl gave a slight smirk, "Lemme guess... you're girl friend that you're birthday shopping for, she's that dark looking one in the cape and hood... Raven, right?"  
  
Starfire nodded again, her smile widening, "That is right again, tomorrow is her birthday, and I wish to get her something nice..."  
  
The clerk chuckled some, "... you're cute kid... you two belong with each other. All right then, my shift is about over. Tell you what, I'll clock out, and you and me will go around this huge place, and we'll see if we can find your girl a present she won't soon forget."  
  
Starfire beamed brightly, hugging the girl tightly, "Thank you oh so much... this means lots and lots to me. I want to find the perfect gift for Friend Raven."  
  
After leaving the shop with a few bags of things, Starfire and her new friend, who's name she found out was Winter, hit virtually every store in the mall. At one of the video/music stores, they found some old movies that Star had seen Raven take interest in before, so they picked up a few of them, plus some CDs as well that both of them liked, as well as some that Raven had liked (Mostly ical and some techno, plus a little contemporary). They also headed through the book store, and picked up two books that Star thought Raven might enjoy.  
  
Finally, they came across one of the jewelry shops, and Starfire struggled not to go nuts in the place, wanting to look at and try some things. After pacifying herself, she stopped in front of one of the display cases, having caught her eye on something. With a faint grin, she stared at it, "... this will be perfect for Raven... I know she will love it..."  
  
With Winter's help, Star got everything wrapped and tagged, and after exchanging phone numbers and emails, the two took off in separate directions, promising to hang out again. Starfire smiled, carrying her packages back to the tower. Looking at her watch, she saw how late it was, and figured that Beast Boy and Cyborg would be crashed on the couch by now. This was a good thing, for it meant she would be able to get everything inside without any questions.  
  
Getting out of the shower, Raven sighed. After a few days, she had gotten fed up and decided to leave her room. Wrapping a towel around herself and her hair, she walked back to her room, tapping the button on the side of her door, making it open for her. Walking to her closet, she stepped inside to change into something abit more comfortable, coming back out moments later in a t-shirt and some sweat pants.  
  
Small flames flickered to life around Raven's room, giving her abit of a suprise. Candles lit the room, and Starfire was sitting upon Raven's bed, with two bags sitting around her, as well as a small black box in her lap.  
  
Raven lifted a brow, finishing drying her hair, "... Starfire, what are you doing? What's all of this?"  
  
Starfire smiled softly, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks, "... Well, Friend Raven... it was sort of supposed to be a surprise... I hope it was one for you... happy birthday." Starfire stood up, rubbing her neck some, "... I went to the mall yesterday, and with the help of my new friend Winter, I picked out a few things I thought you might find rather pleasing and enjoyable."  
  
Raven blinked some, tilting her head to the side, "... you bought me... birthday presents?" she asked, seeming at a loss for the moment, "... that's... nice of you, Starfire..."  
  
Star smiled, "I felt bad when you told me of how no one ever celebrates your day of birth, and since you said not to tell the boys, I decided to give you a small celebration all by myself... just you and me." Turning around, she picked up one of the bags, then motioned for Raven to sit down by the bed.  
  
Raven sighed some, deciding to humor her friend, "... Really Starfire, you shouldn't have..."  
  
Starfire shook her head, "No, I did... I wanted to make this day special for you... to be really enjoyable." She then handed her the bag in her hands, setting it in her lap, "Just a few small things, I hope they are most pleasing to you."  
  
Raven looked down at the package in her lap, then gave a faint smile, reaching inside and removing the tissue paper covering the contents. She pulled out two books, looking at the covers. "... a book of poems by Edgar Alan Poe... and Braum Stroker's Dracula... wow Star.. you actually did pretty decently..."  
  
Starfire smiled, "There is more.. please look.."  
  
Raven chuckled softly, removing the rest of the paper from the bag, picking something up out of it, which got a smirk out of Raven, "Underworld and Spawn, awesome..."  
  
The alien girl smiled, "Robin told me recently that you had enjoyed those two, so I picked up a copy of both of them. Winter said these ones are the.. director's cuts?"  
  
Raven gave that faint smile of hers, setting everything on the bed. "... this was nice Star... not too fancy, just nice..."  
  
Starfire smiled and nodded, "I am glad that these gifts are pleasing to you.." She got the other bag, this time one of the Hot Topik ones, "These are also for you..."  
  
Raven blinked, "More? ... really Starfire, you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble..."  
  
She shook her head, smiling, "It is nothing Friend Raven... I enjoy making my friends happy..."  
  
Raven just dumped the bag on the bed this time, and three black shirts fell out of it. "Hello..." She lifted each one up one at a time, then smirked. "'I hear voices inside my head, and they do not like you'.... cute... 'Cannot sleep, the clowns are trying to steal my brain' ... funny... 'I can only be nice to one person a day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look much better.' ... story of my life..." Raven chuckled again, "... you have odd taste Starfire... I like it..."  
  
Starfire giggled some, "I thought those would be most amusing and fitting for you, Friend Raven, I am glad they have done their intended purpose." She blinked, then picked up the black box she had been holding earlier, "... I have one last gift... this one is really special... I hope it is to your liking, Friend Raven..."  
  
Raven blinked, taking the box from Starfire. "What is it?"  
  
Starfire looked back at her friend, brushing her hair from her face, "... open it up... then you will see..."  
  
Raven looked down at the box, then shrugged, slowly opening the lid, but what she saw inside left her breathless.  
  
In the middle of the white placeholder, a silver pendant rested. It's delicate details were made to resemble that of a bird, ironically, a raven. Two rubies made up its eyes, and it was held by a thin silver chain.  
  
Raven took a breath moments later, still staring down at it, "... Starfire..." she said, very softly, struggling to find words. "... it... it's beautiful... I... I... I don't know what to say..."  
  
Starfire watched her friend's reaction, and saw something that stunned her. Two thin droplets falling from her gothic friend's cheeks, leaving a thin trail from the edges of her eyes. Chewing a finger slightly, Starfire spoke, "..... Raven... wh... why do you shed tears?... did... did my gift make you sad?.... I... I can take it back, if you wish..."  
  
Raven shook her head some, holding up a finger, "... No, no... it's nothing like that Starfire... I love it, really I do.... I'm just... abit overwhelmed..." She lifted her head up slowly, brushing a tear or two from her eyes, ".... as I told you... I'm not used to people giving me such things..."  
  
Standing up slowly, Raven moved up close to Starfire, looking into her eyes. "...Thank you so much Star .... you ... you don't know what this means to me...."  
  
Starfire blushed softly, looking back at Raven, ".... you are very much welcome, Raven.... I only wanted you to have a memorable birthday today.... I hope I have succeeded in doin----"  
  
Starfire was cut up by Raven, having put her arms around the girl's neck, her soft lips meeting those of the alien girl. This surprised Starfire, and she looked back at Raven in shock, but soon, the shock faded, and she let her arms wrap around the smaller girl's waist, sharing in the kiss and showing her friend how much affection she had for her.  
  
Moments later, they finally broke it off, coming up for air and falling back onto the bed. Raven looked down at Starfire, resting atop of the taller girl.  
  
Starfire blushed softly, looking back up at her friend, content to let her rest ontop of her, "... Happy birthday, Raven..."  
  
Raven laid her head down on Starfire's chest, resting against her gently. ".... thank you Starfire... I hope next year will be just as nice as this one was..."  
  
Starfire sighed, stroking her back gently, smiling faintly, ".... I believe it will be, Friend Raven.... I believe it will be..." 


End file.
